"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled."
(Mathew 5: 6)
The Greek word for "righteousness" means "rightwiseness." Righteousness is not all that complicated; it means doing what is right and asking God for His wisdom before we think, speak or plan. That's a great goal in life, isn't it?
The problem is that having something as a goal vs "hungering and thirsting" after it is not the same endeavor at all. The two are worlds apart. One is just a pie in the sky goal, and the other is an attitude that consumes us.
So what does it mean to hunger and thirst after something?
Pregnant women often crave food. They say it often: "I'm dying to eat a (fill in the blank)!"
One pregnant lady described it something like this:
It's basically as if you feel like you're going to die unless you fulfill that craving. It's all you can think about, and no matter what you eat or what you drink, you won't feel satisfied until you get that one, specific food or drink. You can't really think about anything else but THAT item.
For example, if you're craving peaches, you will stop at nothing to get peaches. You won't settle for nectarines, or peach yogurt, or some other random fruit you have on hand... you will get in the car and drive as far as you can to get peaches, and you won't rest until you do.
In a similar way, if a cowboy is trapped in the middle of a desert and his canteen ran out of water 20 miles ago, he'll drag himself along for as long as he can to try to drink from the next watering hole.
Here's the problem, though. Just because you are aware that you need to be craving God, hungering and thirsting after His righteousness, doesn’t mean that you are. So what should you do if you're NOT craving God's righteousness?
"Ask, and it will be given to you."
(Matthew 7:7)
Ask Him for this beatitude's attitude. If you'll ask, God will bless you with a hunger for His right way of thinking. He will make you thirst for His righteousness.
And then, He will empty you of YOU and fill you up with HIM.
